Apparatus for face saturating porous materials in the manufacture of hard surface floor coverings



y 1938- L. E. CREW APPARATUS FOR FACE SATURATING POROUS MATERIALS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HARD SURFACE FLOOR COVERINGS Filed Jan 14, 1936 o-o o0 o 0 o WIT/V555 HTTOFNE') PatentedMay 17, 1938 APPARATUS FOR FACE sA'rURA'rING P- RoUs MATERIALS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HARD SURFACE FLOOR COVERINGS Leon E. Crew, Elmhurst, Del., assignor to Delaware Floor Products, Inc., Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application January 14, 1936, Serial No. 59,037

2 Claims. (Cl. 91 51) The present invention relates to the treatment of relatively porous material made from wood pulp or the like in strips several feet in width and.

of indeterminate length preparatory to application thereto of a colored decoration in the manufacture of hard surface floor coverings, or in some instances during the application of coloring matter to one surface thereof.

m the production of hard surface floor cover- '.move11 any excess of the fluid therefrom. The

saturated base, while it is still wet with the fluid, then passes to a printing machine or the like operative to apply to one face thereof the desired colored ornamentation, the miscibility of the printing dyes or other coloring matter with the saturating fluid facilitating the penetration of the former into the base for an appreciable depth from the printed face.

This practice is open to certain objections, among which is the'tendency of the base when its opposite faces are wet with the saturating fluid to stick to the printing machine'lnstead of moving freely therethroughythe tendency of quantities of the saturating fluid to adhere to the bed of the machine through contact therewith of the back face of the material while wet with the fluid, thus necessitating frequent cleaning to prevent interference with satisfactory operation of the machine; and the absorption, because of passage of the base through a body or the fluid, of

larger quantities thereof than required for best results, the entire thickness of the base often becoming completely saturated, although penetrationof the fluid thereinto for only a relatively small distance from one face is all that is required for proper ornamentation of that face.

My invention is therefore designedto provide improved apparatus for effectively saturating or impregnating one face of a porous base material to a desired depth sufficient to assure suitable penetration of coloring matter thereinto while maintaining'the opposite face and the material lying adjacent theretofree or virtually free of saturating fluid and thus substantially in its normal or dry state, whereby contact of appreciable quantities of the saturating fluid with the bed of the machine is prevented so it can be kept clean, dry and free from contamination thereby at all times.

I Moreover, with the aid of my invention the quantity of fluid saturant supplied to and absorbed by the base material may be subjectedto exact control and the extent of its penetration thereinto from the surface to which it is applied can thus be regulated so as to obtain the mos satisfactory and economical results.

It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide means for progressively saturating one face of a strip of porous material and effecting penetration of the saturating fluid into the strip to a desired depth from said face, while maintaining the remainder of the strip substantially free of the fluid.

Other objects, purposes and advantages of the invention will hereinafter more fully appear or will be understood from the following description of apparatus constructed in accordance therewith reference being had to the accompanying drawing,in which:

Fig. l is a more or less diagrammatic longitudinal section of the said apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a portion thereof showing means for maintaining a body of the saturating fluid in contact with the surface of the saturating roller;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the main driving gears of the machine.

Like characters of reference are used throughout the drawing to designate the same parts.

In saturating one face of a strip of porous base material with the aid of apparatus embodying my invention, I first preferably subject the strip to mild heating as it is progressively drawn from a roll or the like and then While it is still warm continuously apply to one of its .faces a fllm of suitable saturating fluid, desirably by transferring the fluid to the'strip from a moving surface to which the fluid is supplied in a continuous, substantially uniform film. The surface carrying said film is preferably moved at a somewhat higher speed than the strip at the point of engagement therebetween so that an adequate supply of the fluid to the strip is assured, and the latter is then subjected to severe rolling pressure whereby the fluid is caused to penetrate into the pores of the strip for an appreciable depth below the face to which it was applied. Thereafter, it

the strip is to be printed, it is at once led to the printing machine while its fluid impregnated face is still wet and printing of such face is then carried out in the usual way and followed by drying and other customary steps.

.is first suitably colored with the necessary pigments as the strip may be dried immediately after being subjected to rolling pressure to effect the proper degree of penetration of the colored saturant, or after the front face is saturated 'with thelatter the back face may be saturated with uncolored saturant or other. suitable fluid before the strip is finally'dried.

I shall now refer more particularly to the machine shown in the drawing which is constructedv in accordance with the invention and eminently suitable for the performance of the operations I have mentioned, it being understood, however, that for clearness of illustration certain mechanical elements generally employed in, ma-

chines of this general character, such for example as journal bearings and-supports'therefor, driving mechanism and other'well known devices havebeen omitted as-they maybe of any. .desired character or type suitable for their intended functions; it will thus be understood their specific form and/or arrangement 'are merely matters of convenience or preference. 7

The said machine which may best be described withreference to the progress of a strip therethrough while being subjected to the aforesaid treatment, comprises a pair of horizontally disposed idle rollers I, 2 beneath which the strip S is conducted in its passage from a roll or other suitable source (not shown). Beneath ,the portion of the strip extending between these idle rollers is disposed a shield 3 open at the top and closely underlying the strip through which extend a plurality of steam pipes l or other heating means effective to warm the strip, preferably to a temperature of about 100 F., as it passes thereover. The warmed strip thereafter passes upwardly over an idle roller 5 and thence angularly rearwardly and downwardly beneath an idle roller 6 and rearwardly and upwardly over a saturating roller 1 desirably about 8 in diameter and in length at least equal to the width of the strip. This positioning of these several rollers as well as that of others hereinafter more specificallymentioned,. aifords the desired support to the strip and permits the machine to be constructed as a compact unit, but it will be understood they may be otherwise arranged if desired as long as they are so positioned as to properly perform their respective functions.

A trough [0 supported beneath the saturating roller 1 maintains a body of satu-rating'fluid F in contact with the lower portion of this roller,

while an adjustable doctorblade H extends,

across the face of the roller between the fluid F 'and the strip S at its point of contact with the roller thereby permitting accurate control of the thickness of the film of fluid carried by the rollerto the strip during its rotation in engagement therewith. v

From the saturating roller 1, the strip passes angularly rearwardly and downwardly beneath an idle roller .and thence between a pair of squeeze rolls l5, l6 operating at eqiial rotational speed determinative of the linear speed of the strip and exerting a controlled rolling pressure thereon. Since devices of many difierent types are known for regulating the pressure exerted by pressure rolls ofthis generalcharacter on a strip passing between them, no specific description of mechanism suitable therefor is herein i'etained continuously in mesh at any adjustment thereof likely to be demanded by operating conditions. I

Suitable roll driving mechanism (not shown) is connected, desirably through a pinion IS, with gear I! for driving roll .l5, for example. at a peripheralspeed of 26 feet per minute and the gear l8, meshing with gear I'I, thus drives roll l6 at the same speed, the combined action of .thfese rolls on the strip moving it through the I machineat. a corresponding linear speed.

Whenthe strip'is thus driven by the squeeze rolls at a linear speed of approximately 26 feet per minute it "is' preferable that the saturating roller -1 be driven, by mechanism now to be described at a peripheral speed of approximately '31 feet per minute, butwhen other". speeds are j employed it'is desirable that approximately this ratio, 26:31, be fairly closely adhered to, solas to'main-tain a small'body of the saturating fluid 'fin contact with roller "I and thev adja cen't face of the strip just in advance of the area of most intimate engagement therebetween whereby an adequate supply of saturating fluid to that face is assured. f

' For driving roller 1 at the desired speed, the

shaft of roll I5 is provided with a sprbcket 20 for the reception ofa chain running over another sprocket 22 carried by the shaft of roller 1, and the size of these sprockets is-preferably proportioned so as to maintain approximately the ratio 26:31 between the peripheral speeds of the rollers for the reasons to which reference has been made.

The shaft of the other squeeze roll I is provided with a somewhat similar sprocket 23 for the reception of a chain 24 which chain drives a larger sprocket 25 on the shaft of a' drum 25 above and forwardly of the squeeze rolls. The strip, after its passage between the latter, reverses its direction of travel and passes upwardly and forwardly over this drum, from which it may be fed sure exerted by the squeeze rolls being suitably regulated to effect this result.

The saturating fluids usually employed are often slightly tacky after application to the strip, and some of the fluid may adhere to squeeze roll l5 as the strip passes thereover. A cleaning blade 21 is therefore so positioned as to bear against the roll surface and continuously scrape therefrom any fluid or other material adhering thereto.

Mention has been made of means for supplying the saturating fluid to saturating roller I, comprising a trough III. This trough is desirably of slightly greater length than roller 1 and may be substantially rectangular in horizontal section. As best shown in Figs- 2 and 3, adjacent each end of the trough is a pair of vertically .and horizontally offset rollers 30, 3| adapted to support the trough in a substantially horizontal position beneath roller 1 upon inclined rails 32, one rail being disposed at each side of the machine and extending downwardly and rearwardly from the vicinity of roller 1 to permit the trough to be lowered along the rails to the rear'of the machine when it is desired to remove it therefrom for cleaning or the like. A latch 33 may be provided adjacent each end of the trough to engage the upper end of the corresponding rail and releasably maintain the trough in fluid feeding relation to roller 1.

While I have herein described certain mechanism adapted for the purposes of my invention and constructed in accordance therewith, it will be understood that changes and modifications in the form, construction and arrangement of the several elements of the said mechanism and in their mode of operation will readily occur to those skilled in the art and may be made if desired Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. In a machine of the class described, a saturating roller rotatable on a horizontal axis, a trough disposed beneath said roller adapted to contain a fluid in contact with the roller surface,

a pair of inclined rails respectively disposed adis in position to eifect contact between its contained fluid and the saturating roller.

2. In a machine for face saturating a strip of floor covering felt, a saturating roller rotatable on a horizontal axis and adapted to engage one face of the moving strip, a trough beneath the roller adapted to maintain saturating fluid in contact with the roller surface, a pair of inclined parallel rails disposed adjacent the ends of the trough, means movable along therails for supporting the trough therefrom and releasable means for maintaining the trough in fixed position relatively to the roller to maintain said fluid in contact therewith.

' LEON E. CREW. 

